Chinese military aircraft trained their radars on Japanese warplanes near the southern island of Okinawa, the Japanese Defense Ministry said on Sunday (July 12, 2025), calling it a “dangerous act.”
Tokyo sent a “strong protest” to Beijing after the incidents, which left no damage or casualties, Japanese Defense Minister Shinkiro Koizumi said at a news conference.
Relations between the two countries were strained after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that her country might intervene militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan.
Koizumi called the Chinese action “dangerous and extremely regrettable” and called on Beijing to avoid a repeat.
The minister specified that “a J-15 fighter launched from the Chinese Navy’s aircraft carrier Liaoning temporarily trained its radar on an F-15 fighter jet of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, which had been mobilized due to the Chinese aircraft’s intrusion into Japanese airspace.
About two hours later, another Chinese J-15 aircraft intermittently trained its radar on another Japanese fighter, he added.
“Aiming radar at these incidents constitutes a dangerous act that exceeds the range required for the safe flight of the aircraft,” he said.
Fighter aircraft use radar to identify targets and for search and rescue operations.
jc (afp, reuters)